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Collision kills two teens

Monitor Photo/Pearl CantrellFire and EMS officers work to free survivor (from lime green car) Kylan Wayne Jock for helicopter transport on East Main Street Saturday in Gun Barrel City. A collision of two Ford Mustangs resulted in the deaths of Tyler McMillan, 19, and Justin Dean Luper, 17.

By Pearl Cantrell
Monitor Staff Writer
GUN BARREL CITY–Two young men were pronounced dead at the scene of a two car collision Saturday morning on East Main Street near Harvey’s TV in Gun Barrel City. A third man was airlifted to the ETMC trauma center in Tyler with severe injuries.
Cedar Creek Lake resident Theresa Brantley came upon the aftermath of the collision of two Ford Mustangs shortly before 9:30 a.m.
She was joined by a second motorist, together they tried to free the occupants from the smoking wrecks but were unable to do so. All doors were locked or smashed, she told The Monitor. “I was afraid it would catch fire,” she said.
They subsequently called 9-1-1 for help.
Gun Barrel City assistant police chief Larry Warrick identifies the survivor as 18-year-old Kylan Wayne Jock. Fire rescue and EMS worked to free him from his 2005 Ford Mustang for transport via helicopter. Monday morning he was reported to be in intensive care with multiple bone fractures.
According to an update posted Sunday on Facebook by his mother, Jennie Morton, Jock has a crushed left arm, pelvis, three spinal disks and internal bleeding. Other sources also identify him as a graduating Eustace High School senior, who was on his way to work Saturday morning, when the collision occurred.
Justice of the Peace Dale Blaylock pronounced the deaths of Justin Dean Luper, 17, from Alvorado and Tyler James McMillan, a 19-year-old from the Gun Barrel City area. According to comments on Facebook, Luper has close family in the area.
Investigators at the scene believe Luper was driving a 1998 Mustang eastbound, and McMillan was a passenger. It appears the vehicle ran off the roadway on the right then travelled back onto the roadway, crossing the center line into oncoming traffic, where it collided with the 2005 Mustang driven by Jock.
“Upon impact, both vehicles came to rest on the north side of the roadway. The 1998 Mustang rolled over and was lying on its driver’s side after the impact,” Warrick said in a written statement.
Members of the Gun Barrel City Fire Department extracted all victims from both vehicles using cutting tools to free them from the wrecks.
This investigation is ongoing under the leadership of Sgt. Richard Widener and Department of Public Safety trooper Joe Gomez.